


The Druid's Apprentice

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-16 02:04:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12333267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Ydris tells Jack about the whipping scars on his back. Jack belongs to SSO-Jack-Wolfwatcher.





	The Druid's Apprentice

The first few times that Jack and Ydris had been intimate, Ydris hadn't taken his shirt off. He'd stripped out of his heavy coat, shoes, trousers, socks, and gloves, but he'd left his white button-up shirt on. Jack hadn't minded at the time, nor had he questioned it, after all, he had his own reasons for keeping his shirt on and maybe Ydris had his own private reasons. Even though they were very much in love, they didn't have to share everything.

The first time Ydris had taken his shirt off had been when they'd showered together after one night of love. Jack had looked in concern at the ridges of scar tissue criss-crossing the wizard's back, and had tentatively touched them. Ydris had flinched at first, a pained look crossing his face, but then he'd relaxed and allowed Jack to touch them. Jack hadn't asked any questions, seeing that his boyfriend was a little hesitant to even let him touch the scars.

But now, after enjoying a lunchtime session, Jack traced his hands over Ydris' back again. His fiance didn't seem the type to self-harm, so they couldn't be self-inflicted. At least, he'd never mentioned anything before, when he'd discovered that Jack had a history of it. But who could possibly hurt such a wonderful wizard? Especially when he'd only recently discovered that he was bi? Ydris sighed, feeling Jack's fingers grow still on his back.

"Go ahead and ask," said Ydris, facing his fiance. Jack bit his lip, unsure if he should.

"Are you sure?" asked Jack, looking into Ydris' bicoloured eyes.

"You've unloaded onto me," said Ydris. "It is only fair that I trust you with my darkest secrets. And you already know about my mother, which is somewhat related to this."

"Should I be scared?" asked Jack, though he couldn't see himself being scared of the man who'd given him nothing but love and happiness. Ydris chuckled, closing his eyes for a moment.

"God, no," said Ydris. "But you shouldn't be angry, either. The person who did this to me is long dead now."

"By your hand?" asked Jack.

"No," said Ydris. "I did not kill him, though there were times when I sorely wanted to."

"Alright, I'll bite," said Jack. "What's the story behind these?" He stroked his fingers over Ydris' scars, and the magician looked sad and thoughtful. Jack wondered if his fiance was about to be launched back into a memory, as had happened when he'd seen the maypole on Midsummer. But Ydris remained firmly in the moment this time.

"It was a very long time ago now," said Ydris. "Not long after my mother died." And, as the sad tale spilled forth from him, Jack listened, his eyes and cheeks quickly growing wet with tears.

_In the weeks following his mother's death, Ydris was only numb. His mother, his teacher, the only other person in this universe who could understand him, was gone. Dead. Not coming back. The townspeople had burned her at the stake, just for being a witch. It didn't matter that she had been a good witch, blessing fields and farm animals to ensure a bountiful harvest, or that she had helped the local women with tonics to prevent pregnancy or terminate it. Actually, these last two points had been brought up against her, as examples of the terrible things that she'd done. And as for the other things, well, the townspeople had been upset that she'd been playing God. Or playing Aideen, rather. If it was Aideen's will that the land should be barren, they'd said, then let the land be barren._

_Nobody came to Ydris' aid, of course. People walked past him and outright avoided him, making the sign to ward off evil or throwing salt over their shoulders as they passed. Many times, Ydris was sprinkled with salt, which he'd brush off, accepting that nobody cared about him. He lived on the things that people threw away, and then, after they'd driven him from town, the fruits of nature fed Ydris._

_And then the winter came, and Ydris stumbled through the forest, freezing right down to his very bones. He could no longer feel his fingers, nor could he feel his toes, and he was pretty sure that his nose and the tips of his ears had dropped off long ago. He stumbled through the snow, barely able to see through the snow clumped to his lashes, and finally tripped on a root and fell, sprawling to the ground and dropping his precious supply of edible roots and mostly-dry wood. He crawled around, picking up his precious supplies, and managed to find them all again and stuff them into the pockets of his oversized coat. His mother had said that he'd grow into it, and he was beginning to._

_But, when Ydris tried to stand, his ankle yelled at him in pain, and he fell again, the tears freezing to his face. He sniffled and bent over his ankle, trying to bring forth the healing magic that he knew resided deep within him. But nothing happened._

_"Come on, work, work, work," Ydris begged, glad that at least the cold snow was keeping the swelling down and helping to numb the pain. Nothing happened, so Ydris dug deeper. And deeper, and deeper still, not caring that his magical reserves would draw on his body's own energy now. Ydris' sight dimmed, and he felt his head begin to float away. Or at least, that's what it felt like. The last thing Ydris felt was a warm glow around his injured ankle, and his last thought was that he'd finally done it._

_Ydris awoke in a very warm and dry place. Soft sheets and blankets covered him, along with a soft quilt, and the room was warmly lit by a little fire burning away in the hearth. He blinked, sitting up, and quickly found that his ankle felt much better. He, himself, also felt much better, warmed up by the bed covers and the fire. But the hunger was still gnawing at his belly, and there was a plate of broth and a hunk of bread sitting on a little table by the fire._

_His stomach growling, Ydris got out of bed, placing his previously injured foot tentatively on the ground, and walked over to the fire. To his relief, his ankle took his weight easily. After starving, the bread and broth were the most delicious things that Ydris had ever tasted. He gulped down every drop of the broth, and ate every crumb of the bread, using it to soak up the last of the broth._

_As Ydris was swallowing the last of his meal, the door to the room opened, and Ydris turned to see a tall man walk into the room. He wore a grey robe, and Ydris could not see his face because of his cowl._

_"Ah, good, you're awake," said the man. "I thought you would sleep for longer. And I see that you ate my lunch, that's... lovely."_

_"I'm sorry," said Ydris, jumping away from the empty bowl as though it had burned him. "I didn't know it was for you, I just..."_

_"It's fine," said the man, waving away Ydris' fears. "I shouldn't have left it there. Of course you thought it was yours. And I suppose you do need to regain your strength. You were nothing but skin and bones when I found you, and healing took a lot out of you. I fixed your ankle too, by the way."_

_"Thank you!" said Ydris, looking gratefully at the man. "But... why?"_

_"Why not?" asked the man, tilting his head to one side in confusion. "You were a lost, cold, starving, injured boy, I couldn't just leave you out there in the cold to freeze! That is not Aideen's will."_

_"Oh," said Ydris. "So you probably hated my mother too."_

_"What? Your mother? Who is she?" asked the robed man._

_"She was Evelyn the Great," said Ydris. "Or, at least, that was her show name when she would perform tricks for the village children. That was a long time ago. Back before a new man came to the village, and decried witches to be evil beings who should be hunted down and burned at the stake." Tears spilled over as he told his sad tale, and the man hurried over to him._

_"Oh no! Not Evelyn!" said the druid. "I'm so sorry, Ydris, I had no idea it was you. You look different."_

_"How do you know who I am?" asked Ydris._

_"Don't you recognise my voice, at least?" asked the druid, and finally pulled back his cowl. "I'm Evergray, your mama's best friend! Or, I was. I've been out here studying trees for a while, and I kind of lost track of the time." He rubbed the back of his head, his hair unusually present for a druid. It was curly and orange._

_"I usually stayed in my room when my mother had guests," said Ydris._

_"Ah, it doesn't matter, I guess I'm looking after you now," said Evergray. "I can teach you many things, except how to be a wizard. Druid magic is different to wizard magic, we use runes."_

_"Oh," said Ydris. "That's okay. I accepted the fact that I'd never learn magic when my mama died." His lower lip wobbled, and he bit it to keep it still._

_"Aww, don't cry," said Evergray, bending down to wrap an arm around the young wizard. "I'll take good care of you, you'll see."_

_And, true to his word, Evergray did take care of Ydris. He kept him fed and clothed and warm, and taught him better ways to live in the wild. Ydris even learned how to fish, though he didn't much care for it. Ydris grew into a fine, healthy teenager under Evergray's watchful eye, and he was mostly happy. Though he still missed his mother terribly, Ydris liked having another person around whom he could rely on._

_But the thing that most interested Ydris was Evergray's book collection. He stumbled upon it one day while he was cleaning the cottage (his mother had always prided herself on keeping a clean cottage, and Ydris wanted to remember her in this small way). To his surprise, the druid actually had a great collection of books in boxes under his bed. Ydris read through them all while Evergray was out doing... whatever it was he did during the day, and he quickly learned a lot more about druid magic. They used special plants in their spells, and trees, and runes, and there were several circles of druid magic, more than the four that were most prominently featured in the Aideen mythos. Water, fire, air, earth... Ydris was amazed at just how much power was out there._

_But then, Ydris found a special book. It was chained up and held firm with a padlock, but an unlocking rune got him in just fine. Ydris flipped through the book, turning each page with amazement, and gasped when he found just the right spell. Necromancy, the power to bring the dead back to life. Maybe he could see his mother again after all!_

_Ydris studied the necromancy spell in secret, knowing somehow that Evergray would scold him for finding this book if he was discovered with it. And, when Evergray left for a very rare meeting with the other druids (he'd been complaining about it all week), Ydris brought the book out and gathered together some spell ingredients. With the spell components, Ydris set out in search of a sacrifice. An animal one would not do, oh no, he had to use human blood to raise his dead mother. And he knew just which human to use._

_Evergray found Ydris standing over his mother's grave, a runic circle inscribed over the ground and a struggling mayor with a knife pressed to his throat._

_"Ydris!" Evergray snapped. "What are you doing?"_

_"I want my mother back," said Ydris coldly. "And I figure that this man's life is ample payment in exchange for my mother's." He pressed the knife harder against the mayor's throat, drawing a thin trickle of blood._

_But then, there was a bright flash, and Ydris found himself back in the forest. The mayor, the circle, the spell ingredients, all of it was gone, but Evergray was still standing there, frowning at Ydris, and Ydris was still holding the bloody knife._

_"On your knees, shirt off, now," said Evergray, gesturing to the ground. Ydris had never seen the man look so angry. Certainly not at him, anyway._

_"Why?" asked Ydris. "And why did you interrupt the ritual? I could have had my mother back by now!"_

_"You cannot play with dark magic, Ydris, it always has consequences!" said Evergray. "What would your mother think?"_

_"She'd think that you're a complete arse for preventing us from reuniting!" Ydris shouted back at him. Evergray clenched his fists, and Ydris heard something slithering in the undergrowth. He took no notice until something wrapped around his ankles and pulled his feet out from under him, sending him crashing to his knees. "Hey, what the hell!?"_

_"I'm sorry, Ydris," said Evergray, as Ydris felt something tearing off his shirt. He'd only worn the shirt, not wanting his coat to become ruined with blood. "But you leave me no choice. You must be punished for your actions."_

_Ydris heard something whistling through the air, and then he felt the pain. He cried out as something whipped his back, the scent of blood soon filling the air as his skin split apart under the relentless barrage of whips._

_"I'm sorry!" Ydris sobbed, clutching the tree stump in front of him for support as the pain went on. "I'm so sorry, please, stop hurting me!" Tears dripped from his chin onto the dead wood, but still the pain continued._

_"No," said Evergray, sounding cold. "You must learn that your actions have consequences, young magician. Next time you think about raising the dead, think of what happened last time you tried. And perhaps then, you will reconsider."_

_Ydris stared down at the knife, still red with the mayor's blood, and sobbed._

"I left that night," said Ydris, tears in his eyes now as he recalled the events of that fateful night.

"Shit, and I'm supposed to trust that guy," said Jack. Ydris looked alarmed.

"You mean he's still alive?" asked Ydris.

"Yeah," said Jack. "Apparently."

"Oh. Well, I don't hate him for what he did," said Ydris. "I did need to learn that lesson."

"Is that why you were so hesitant to revive Halli?" asked Jack. "Shit, now I feel awful for making you do that."

"Don't be," said Ydris, kissing his forehead. "You had no idea. But yes, it was why I was so hesitant. Getting flogged by a tree tends to leave a scar, especially when you're just a teenager."

"Fuck, I can imagine it would," said Jack. "You just wanted your mother back. I can't say I'd feel the same in your position, but..."

"Well, you begged me to bring back your fox," said Ydris. "And I did, but the whole time, my back was on fire."

"Sorry," said Jack. "But it was worth it."

"Halli's life means your life," said Ydris. "So yes, it was definitely worth it. And at least I only needed to sacrifice a circle of land to bring back Halli."

"It's gonna be pretty friggin' awkward when I have to work with Evergray," said Jack.

"Maybe don't mention me," said Ydris. "But it'll probably be a while before you see him anyway." Jack laughed.

"Yeah, that's true," said Jack, his fingers still gently stroking over Ydris' whip scars. His fiance didn't seem to mind the touch, instead enjoying being caressed so gently. And, honestly, Jack liked learning more about his fiance, or as much as Ydris was comfortable telling him.


End file.
